High Mileage 2001 Sahara Build

Chris said:
That's the main reason I removed my third cat. I saw how much more space it would clear up for the belly-up skid, and I decided to do it at the same time.

But anyways, yes, you can indeed delete it, and I'm pretty confident it will give you the sound you're looking for and clear up space as previously mentioned. With that Borla exhaust being so quiet, I think the removal of the cat may actually make it sound exactly the way you want it.

Yes, the age does have something to do with it. When I was 20 I too remember being quite fond of louder exhaust. At 36, I can tell you that now I want the vehicle to be as quiet as possible (at least on the inside). I'm not sure why that is to be honest... maybe it just happens as you get older, but it started happening for me in my late twenties I feel like.
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The space would be nice. Maybe I will have time on Sunday to look at how the cat connects to the rest of the exhaust. If I recall correctly, it isn't clamped but has a flange. Would be fairly simple to delete if I just picked up a similar length piece of pipe and adapters from the local auto parts store. I'll have to try that out with the Borla muffler and see how I like it.

I'm not sure what causes the switch to quieter exhausts as people get older. My Dad is the same exact way. I was shifting our automatic JKU manually once and my Dad wasn't happy with me for "making so much noise" when I shifted at 4000 rpm. The JKU is totally stock, including the exhaust. I'm just happy that I have a few more years left before it is socially unacceptable for me to have a loud exhaust :ROFLMAO:
 
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jodomcfrodo said:
The space would be nice. Maybe I will have time on Sunday to look at how the cat connects to the rest of the exhaust. If I recall correctly, it isn't clamped but has a flange. Would be fairly simple to delete if I just picked up a similar length piece of pipe and adapters from the local auto parts store. I'll have to try that out with the Borla muffler and see how I like it.

I'm not sure what causes the switch to quieter exhausts as people get older. My Dad is the same exact way. I was shifting our automatic JKU manually once and my Dad wasn't happy with me for "making so much noise" when I shifted at 4000 rpm. The JKU is totally stock, including the exhaust. I'm just happy that I have a few more years left before it is socially unacceptable for me to have a loud exhaust :ROFLMAO:
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I think at this age, the only loud exhaust I'll ever be okay with is the sound of an American V8 with some full headers and full exhaust. The sound those things make at idle and on acceleration is something you could never get tired of at any age.

I attribute that to the crossplane crankshaft found in those engines, that's where that beautiful exhaust note comes from.
 
Today I had about an hour to look at the Jeep. Decided to fix the hacked Savvy under armor stiffener (is that what this is?). My shop said they trimmed a part of the under armor to fit the larger Borla muffler. Looks like they just hit it with a plasma cutter because it was very rough. Nothing an angle grinder and a little paint can't fix...

Side question, is there any reason I shouldn't replace the under armor philips heads with some allen bolts? I'm not a huge fan of using a big screwdriver to get the skid off.


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Jodomcfrodo, I have thoroughly enjoyed your Tj photo odyssey. The west is a beautiful place. My wife and I did a NC to Yellowstone trip before she got sick. The technical stuff on your Jeep is way over my head but your Tj travels were/ are terrific. It gives me hope that Ripley, my Tj will live a long life with only 141000 on her. Keep on rolling son.
 
Baltimoreed said:
Jodomcfrodo, I have thoroughly enjoyed your Tj photo odyssey. The west is a beautiful place. My wife and I did a NC to Yellowstone trip before she got sick. The technical stuff on your Jeep is way over my head but your Tj travels were/ are terrific. It gives me hope that Ripley, my Tj will live a long life with only 141000 on her. Keep on rolling son.
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I'm happy you've enjoyed my Jeep's story. I truly think that I'm on of the luckiest people on earth for not only having my Jeep after 18 years of family ownership, but also because I lived in one of the most beautiful places on earth for 4 years. I really want to get back out west after I graduate in two years but I'll probably have to spend at least 2 more living in either Chicago or Manhattan.

And with only 141,000 miles, your Jeep should be good to go for many more years. I started driving my Jeep with 182,000 miles on it, but it has come a long long way since then.
 
I think I'm starting to get used to this 9-5 type deal. It is only my second day, but I've been able to spend more time working on the Jeep this week than I have in the past year. During the school year, my night is just getting started at 5. Now I'm completely done for the night at 5.

Tonight, I was able to spend quite a bit of time cleaning up the Jeep. I gave it a pretty good detail. I removed the Savvy UA for the first time and it was extremely easy. Very clever design now that I've looked at it up close. There was a ton of mud under the skid, so I drove it down to the car wash to get all of it off. Something I couldn't have done with a stock skid.

I then started to replace the philips head bolts with allens. I don't see why this wouldn't be a good idea, but if it isn't, let me know. Unfortunately, the local ace only had 9 or 10 allen bolts in the right size, so I only got part of the way through.

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I also took at quick look at my exhaust to figure out how I'm going to do the cat delete. It appears that one end has a 3 bolt flange while the other has one of those ball connections with 2 bolts. Not sure if I can just buy these at an auto parts store or not. If I can't, I always have access to a mill and a welder so it shouldn't be too hard to figure something out.


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Wow, almost daily updates on the Jeep now for nearly a week. Can you believe it...

While I was snooping around the Jeep I found something that I guess was previously covered by mud until my intense under carriage cleaning a couple days ago.... rust.

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It looked somewhat worrying at first, but I got the wire brush out and realized it is only surface rust. This weekend I'm planning on pulling the rear fender liners and getting to work on any remaining rust I can see on the tub. I know for sure there is no rot, but I better get to the surface rust as fast as I can while I have time. I'm planning on wire brushing until most the junk is off, then hitting with a die grinder or sand paper, rust converter, and paint. If anyone has some products they've used in the past on something like this I'd love to hear about them.

I thought I was pretty lucky with the condition of my tub considering the condition of my frame, but I guess there is still work to do. At least from @Mike_H 's build, I know any rust I have on my tub can be fixed.


Here is the rust after a few minutes of wire brushing. Nothing too terrible and luckily not rot. Some sanding and paint should fix this right up for many more years.


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Pretty productive weekend. Got all the rust cleaned up, "rust converted", primed, and painted. Having access to an air die grinder was invaluable for this.

Also, if anyone is wondering, dumping the exhaust right after the cat is pretty fun for about 5 miles. The tone is terrible below 2500 rpm, just a burbly mess. But once you put your foot into it, the tone is actually pretty good. The only problem is that it is stupidly loud. Every suburban mom on the sidewalk stops to look at you angrily. I'm definitely putting the muffler back on today.

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Guess who gets to learn how to drop the gas tank. I’ve spent the last couple of days searching for my large EVAP leak. Could trace it to the tank by smell.

Everything seemed 100% fine. No cracked lines and the gas cap is new. Then I remembered a problem I had a few years ago, the fuel pump coming loose. So I did the totally unofficial “please don’t do this “, terrible idea test of over filling the tank at the gas station. Yup, a bunch of gas came pouring out. So if anyone has any tips on how to lower the gas tank Just enough to tighten my fuel pump, I’d appreciate it.

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ranger101 said:
Love seeing all the progress you’ve been making. With work, I try to get a project done every few days if I’m lucky haha
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Thanks! It is really nice to be able to do stuff to the Jeep again. Missed it. I have a 9-5 job with the responsibilities of a college kid so I end up with a lot of time on my hands.



In terms of dropping the tank, it seems like I can just unbolt the skid from the frame, unscrew the fill tube up near the gas cap, and lower the tank down about 8 inches on a jack. That should give me enough room to tighten down the fuel pump. Shouldn't be too hard of a job. Unfortunately I had to fill the gas tank to the brim in order to test the pump being loose...
 
You'll have to unscrew the filler neck up top. I lowered my tank easily with a floor jack for atvs.
Lower it slightly then carefully disconnect any lines that prevent you from lowering it enough to get to the fuel pump.
Might want to burn or siphon off some gas first!
 
Farmergreg said:
You'll have to unscrew the filler neck up top. I lowered my tank easily with a floor jack for atvs.
Lower it slightly then carefully disconnect any lines that prevent you from lowering it enough to get to the fuel pump.
Might want to burn or siphon off some gas first!
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I'm going to get it out driving tonight to burn off some gas. Just from looking at the tank, it doesn't seem that hard to drop, but having it full would definitely make it a whole lot less fun. I'm hoping that I can just drop the tank a few inches, smack the fuel pump back into being tight, and then bolt everything back up.

I'm heading 2-3 hours south of here on Saturday to help with an engine swap, so hopefully I can have this all buttoned up tomorrow night. Wouldn't really want to drive it down there knowing what I know now.
 
Dropped the tank tonight. Pretty easy process. Fuel pump was a bit loose and the seal was very dirty. Cleaned everything up, tightened the ring down with a screwdriver and a mallet, and bolted it back together. 45 minute job.

Then got working on my brakes to see if I could get them to stop squealing. Tried washing them out and doing a new break in process before this. Gave the passenger front a good clean and nothing changed. Starting to wonder if it is the passenger drum brake.

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Also, side note, no rust up underneath the tank! Very happy about that.

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@mrblaine might need your help on this one.


Been trying to get rid of my brakes screeching. I tried power washing the front brakes at the coin up, new break in procedure, and taking apart the front and giving it a good cleaning. Nothing seems to fix my BMB kit from screeching even though the first 4000 miles were screech free. It is the front passenger side that is screeching and I’m not quite sure what to try next... Jeep still stops awesome, but the screeching is annoying me.


Here are are some pictures if anyone can spot anything wrong. There is a small groove in the rotor but I can’t see anything that would cause that (You can see the groove in the last photo). I’ve cleaned everything out thoroughly.

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jodomcfrodo said:
@mrblaine might need your help on this one.


Been trying to get rid of my brakes screeching. I tried power washing the front brakes at the coin up, new break in procedure, and taking apart the front and giving it a good cleaning. Nothing seems to fix my BMB kit from screeching even though the first 4000 miles were screech free. It is the front passenger side that is screeching and I’m not quite sure what to try next... Jeep still stops awesome, but the screeching is annoying me.


Here are are some pictures if anyone can spot anything wrong. There is a small groove in the rotor but I can’t see anything that would cause that (You can see the groove in the last photo). I’ve cleaned everything out thoroughly.

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Go break them in again very aggressively. Try to get them into hot fade before you do the cool down.
 
mrblaine said:
Go break them in again very aggressively. Try to get them into hot fade before you do the cool down.
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Will do. I’m assuming my Chicago city driving hasn’t been what my brakes wanted to see. Will do that tonight once the roads around here calm down and let it cool over night.
 
I usually engine brake almost to a stop so my brakes don’t get too much hard use. I’ll have to try to adjust my driving habits.

Cleaned all 4 corners and adjusted the driver rear drum just now. From the drive back to my apartment, it seemed that the screeching has stopped. Going to go get them hot right now anyway to make sure they’re nice and broken in. Hopefully this solves my problem in the long term.
 
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